This is my review of Ration of Lies by M. Ruth Myers. This is mystery #8 in the Maggie Sullivan series. Maggie Sullivan is a private investigator in the 1940s, navigating a world before and during World War II.
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I love this series. I don't often find female private investigators. This is one of a few books that feature such things. In Ration of Lies, Maggie Sullivan takes the case of a Nisei (Japanese American) family when their son is accused of arson. It starts as a simple case (with some hesitation to take the case), but becomes more complicated as she finds more and more evidence of the boy's innocence. She also has to locate him as part of her agreement and nobody knows where he is.
Amongst all this, we see WWII and its effects around Maggie. You see people sign up too young (a newspaper boy) and someone come back from the war injured. On top of that, the boarding house she lives in is now a little more populated and will take anyone in - when they used to run a pretty tight background check. All this happens around our private investigator. She ends up being sold the house of a past client in lieu of payment, taking it with the help of her godfather (who moves in with her).
Overall Thoughts
Five stars, easy. This had all the action, charm, and fun of her previous adventures. It also took into account real historical details, like rations and wartime issues with Japanese Americans. One of our characters comes back scarred from the war, afraid people won't talk to him the same way with a scar on his face. Heebs, the newspaper boy, runs off to fake his age and join the war. We also hear about blackout curtains and requirements that affect daily life - like rationed coffee and the police force being interfered with by other agencies.
This book was great, but there are definitely sad notes within the storyline. A man Maggie passed on (Connelly) ,but still loved, had previously married a woman with kids. This book Connelly's wife killed herself by stepping in front of a train. Other things came out, too, which didn't put her in a great light. He's now left with her two kids and the knowledge that she cheated on him while she was alive. On top of Heebs joining up at too young of an age, we do see some sad stuff. Maggie hears about Connelly's wife from others and finds out about Heebs from someone who took his paper route.
I have nothing but positive things to say about this book. You do need the context of the rest of the series, though. Please start at book one or you'll be lost at sea over Connelly's situation, Boike (came back from war), Freeze, and Heebs. There is so much context you need that I would look her up and start from the top. Don't go into this without the context or some of this won't mean anything. Connelly is especially important to Maggie, despite only seeing him once in this whole novel and only hearing of what happened to him.
Conclusion
First of all, start from the first book. Second of all, five stars. This historical fiction mystery will have you wanting more. There is only one more book in the series and I have it. You'll see the review of it, probably, but maybe not this year. I love this series and every book is five stars for me.
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Morrow is coming out before Christmas 2025. This novella is the story of two women writing a family history for the Morrow family. They find a nasty secret while researching. Will they survive their internship? Find out when the book releases this year.
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